Thursday, February 24, 2011

Sorry I haven't written in several weeks. For what ever reason, I didn't write down much so I had little to post on the blog. What follows is a combination of my notes from three rehearsals.

Bring Him Home - This is the men's number. We have now rehearsed through the whole piece more than once. If the note is hollow (any note greater than or equal to a half note) then it should swell or shrink. Holding the volume and feeling steady for any significant duration is boring and blah.

Red, Red Rose - If your music has markings from last time then please use them. Here again we have worked all sections of the piece well past sight reading.

This is the Christ - We have been working especially on the a Capella section (measures 28 to 35).

It's a Grand Night for Singing - We need to memorize this one. We worked on tuning from 117 to the end. When it divides into 6 part harmony at 121 the 2nd tenors and the baritones are taking the middle note. (I don't know how the women are dividing on the treble clef.)

Sing Sing Sing - I noted that the basses are supposed to sound like pizzicato string basses (also called a walking bass line). The tenors should sound like muted trumpets. And they should skip the three glissandos on pages 10 and 11. Women, please comment and tell me if you are supposed to sound like an instrument. (Oh, and this one will need to be memorized so our hands are free for the choreography.)

Balm in Gilead - Erin had us number the measures (first one on each line is enough; there are 55 total). We worked on blending.

Saints Bound for Heaven - This song is about deliverance from all kinds of bondage. We worked on measure 60 to 80 tonight.

Sure On This Shining Night - I don't have any notes about this one but we have been working on it. Erin challenged us about a month ago to figure out what the lyrics are about.

We have now sight read all our music for this semester (except Witness which we sang last semester). And we have nearly completed a second more detailed rehearsal of each piece. It is time to move beyond learning the parts. I'm sure we will continue to work on parts if a section is off enough to catch Erin's ear, however rehearsals are already shifting to focus more on style. If we don't know our parts then we can't make much progress on style.